Book Title: THE FORMIDABLE MISS CASSIDYCharacter Name: Miss Leda Cassidy and Mr. Kay Wing Tong How would you describe your family or your childhood?Mr. Kay: Ah, I am delighted you asked! I am a widower now, having attained a venerable middle age, but when I was younger, the family matchmaker sent me a bride. Now this might be unsurprising for most – of course the sons of a family must be married – but you see, I was born with some, ah, ominous signs in my fortune. Originally, they did not know if I could marry at all, so I was sent to work as an apprentice in my uncle’s shipping business. But once I became a successful shipping merchant – I run Kay Shipping in Singapore, part of the Straits Steamship Company – naturally some things were smoothed over. My wife was very satisfactory, and gave me two healthy sons and twin daughters, Yeling and Yezi. I was sad when my wife died, but I delight in our daughters. People say I spoil them, that it is not necessary for two girls to have so much education on, and to even have a live-in governess from Scotland to teach…

What is the title of your latest release?UNCHARMED What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A “perfect” witch must learn to embrace perfection and live for herself, when her sparkling life is unexpectedly turned into cozy chaos thanks to a teenage witch and a grumpy warlock. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?UNCHARMED begins in a very picturesque version of London, but when Annie is tasked with helping Maeve to get to grips with her magic, they are relocated to a ramshackle cottage in a hidden meadow. I knew I wanted this book to be a cottagecore comfort, so that decision was an easy one. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?Absolutely! I am extremely fond of Annie, and she would be such a wonderful friend. She’s also a fantastic baker, which would be a bonus. What are three words that describe your protagonist?Soft, kind-hearted, magical. What’s something you learned while writing this book?I learned that my first novel wasn’t just a fluke! I was worried that lightning wouldn’t strike twice, and I would never fall in love with a cast of characters the way that I did with my debut, REWITCHED….

I read some absolutely wonderful books this past month that I’ll rave about presently, but after a wave of hits, I ran into a string of misses. Most of them were books I felt I should read—they had received critical acclaim or were written by respected authors—but they failed to capture my attention, or more importantly, my heart. Despondent, I remembered I was behind in Cathy Maxwell’s latest series, “The Gambler’s Daughters.” I opened the middle volume, ONE DANGEROUS NIGHT, and was instantly enchanted. Ms. Maxwell gives us everything we want in a romance novel: strong main characters whose hearts are always in the right place even when they sometimes make silly decisions, (Don’t climb into a cart for a ride when your feet hurt too much to keep walking, Elise, even if the driver seems like a kindly grandfather!) complicating plot turns that thwart the main characters’ best intentions, (Why do carriages always overturn in the rain?!) and breathtakingly sizzling passion between two heroes we want desperately to realize they’re meant to be together. I loved getting to know Elise and Kit and watching them grow individually and together, and I both sped towards and dreaded reaching the end…

This month, we celebrate authors who illuminate fascinating but lesser-known worlds at different time periods in different countries of Asia.  Prepare to be an armchair traveler! Beginning chronologically during the Ming dynasty, we have Lisa See’s LADY TAN’S CIRCLE OF WOMEN.  In a culture in which education for women is considered worthless, Tan Yunxian was taught by her grandmother, one of the very few female doctors in China, the essentials of Chinese medicine—looking, listening, touching and asking—in order to treat female patients, who were not allowed to be examined by male doctors.  Yunxian’s training runs parallel to that of another young woman, Meiling, a midwife in training.  The skills of the two complement each other, for a doctor is forbidden to touch blood, while a midwife frequently encounters it.  The two vow to be forever friends, but when Yunxian leaves home for an arranged marriage, her new mother-in-law forbids her to see Meiling.  Instead of using her valuable skills, she is to become a proper wife, embroidering slippers, reciting poetry, playing instruments and most important, giving birth to sons.  But Yunxian’s desire to help women—and her increasing dissatisfaction at being trapped within the walls of the family compound—will lead her,…

What is the title of your latest release?THE VANISHING PLACE What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?A child who ran from the forest. A woman who must return to it. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I love a nature-centric thriller, where the setting is a wild dark character of its own, and I wanted to write a story with nature at its core. I live in New Zealand, where there is bush so vast and so dense that it can devour you completely. In fact, there is currently a wanted man in New Zealand who has been hiding in the bush with his three children for four years. He has evaded all attempts by law enforcement to find him, from police searches, to dogs, to drones, to helicopters. While The Vanishing Places isn’t inspired by this true story, it does draw on the vastness of the New Zealand bush as a fantastic setting. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?Absolutely. I would love hiking in the hills with Effie then going for a coffee. I love her strength and how fiercely independent she is. But, like me, I think she…

Excerpt from THE ROOM OF LOST STEPS by Simon TolkienText copyright © 2025 by Simon Tolkien, Published by Lake Union Publishing They edged along the sidewalk, keeping under the trees, and stopped as soon as the church came into view. Tall ogival windows above the big arched doorway faced out onto the Diagonal, and a round dome surmounted by a cross emerged from the invisible monastery buildings behind. The church’s east wall curved and ran north up a narrow tree-lined street, the Carrer Llúria, and ended in a tall bell tower in which the soldiers had sited their machine guns. Nothing was moving, and the guns were quiet now after their recent flurry of fire. Anarchist fighters were densely gathered in the doorways on both sides of the Diagonal, and some had got into the houses. Theo could see them lying on the roofs and behind piled-up furniture in the open windows. White sheets hung down from under the balconies to demonstrate the occupiers’ loyalty to the Republic. The bodies of several Anarchists shot in the earlier fighting were lying out in the road and on the sidewalks around the church. They lay haphazardly here and there, as if they…

What is the title of your latest release?HONEY AND HEAT What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?She’s known as the Ice Princess. He’s got a reputation for melting hearts… except hers. Let the rivalry begin. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?The main characters – Cynthia and Rohit – were initially in my debut novel, Sunshine and Spice, which takes place in a medium-sized city that I chose for its picturesque landscapes and bustling tourism, which creates an interesting backdrop for ambitious business professionals and issues around gentrification. Although Honey and Heat is a standalone novel, fans of Sunshine and Spice can expect to see familiar faces and places. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?100% and I’d probably have a girl crush on her, too. What are three words that describe your protagonist?Ambitious, fierce, and intelligent. What’s something you learned while writing this book?How to create a makeshift birthday candle in a pinch, both in theory and in practice. Note, crayons burn fast. Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?For the first few chapters, I edit as I go to find my groove and…

What is the title of your latest release?FUN AT PARTIES What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?FUN AT PARTIES is about a celebrity spin instructor who has a meltdown during a live class and decides to take a spontaneous cross-country road trip with her longtime crush/semi-estranged friend. It’s supposed to be a relaxing trip with a lot of nature and quiet, but when their mutual friend throws a wrench in the plan, it turns into a wild goose chase across America’s biggest party spots. Basically, the protagonist thinks she’s going to be doing Wild, but she ends up doing The Hangover. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?The book is about a road trip, so it takes place in multiple locations across the country. I chose Lake Tahoe as the first stop because our protagonist, Quinn, thinks spending her vacation in beautiful, relaxing places is going to give her the clarity she needs to get her life together. Every location after that is the exact opposite of what she thinks she needs—a Vegas nightclub, a rain-soaked country music festival, a Nashville bachelorette party. It’s pure chaos, which was a lot of fun to write….

What is the title of your latest release?ISABELA’S WAY What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?ISABELA’S WAY is a coming-of-age tale, set during a dangerous time in early 17th century Portugal. A 14-year-old girl with a talent for needlework, believes she has nothing to fear from the Inquisition. But when a mysterious woman arrives with a message from Isabela’s traveling father, the girl must leave her home and embroider her way along the clandestine network of sanctuaries created to conduct Conversos, or secret Jews, to safety. How did you decide where your book was going to take place?I was on a bicycle trip in Portugal when this 14-year-old embroideress popped into my head and demanded to be written about! I also knew that ancestors of mine came from Portugal and settled in Germany to escape the Inquisition. Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?I would- I could see Isabela and I in a quiet sewing circle embroidering together. But the character I’d really like to hang out with is Ana Martel Gerondi, the herbal healer and dye maker who helps Isabela along her way and is a kind of spirit guide to her. What are three…

My husband was deployed to Ft. Polk in Louisiana for four years, and we spent most of the time exploring every corner of the state. We’ve both been back in Illinois for a year now, but I love revisiting Louisiana through books. And I have two recommendations for you! Jana DeLeon is a good friend, and I genuinely love her books. This series often has me laughing out loud at the antics of the citizens of Sinful, Louisiana! LOUISIANA LONGSHOT by Jana DeLeon It was a hell of a longshot… CIA Assassin Fortune Redding is about to undertake her mostdifficult mission ever – in Sinful, Louisiana. With a leak at the CIA and a price on her head by one of theworld’s largest arms dealers, Fortune has to go off grid,but she never expected to be this far out of her element.Posing as a former beauty queen turned librarian in a small,bayou town seems worse than death to Fortune, but she’sdetermined to fly below the radar until her boss finds theleak and puts the arms dealer out of play. Unfortunately, she hasn’t even unpacked a suitcase beforeher newly-inherited dog digs up a human bone in herbackyard. Thrust into the middle of a…